Grilling 101 July 31 2015
In the summer I love to grill. The warm weather makes it the perfect time to be outside and the fresh fruits and vegetables available lend themselves to the simple cooking technique of the open flame.
Here’s my guide to ensure your next barbecue is your best yet!
- Gas vs. Charcoal: Gas is obviously the easier method of the two, but isn’t always available. Charcoal does offer that delicious smokey flavor you look for from a grill. From my experience, if you are using charcoal, buy a charcoal chimney. It makes setting up the charcoal infinitely easier.
- Get it Hot: A hot grill is going to cook everything better. It allows you to get a nice char on the outside of your meat or fish and provides those beautiful grill marks on sliced vegetables and fruits. Once you have a nice char, I advise moving more delicate items to a place on the grill where they are getting indirect heat.
- Use the right amount of oil: You do not need a lot of oil when cooking if your grill is hot enough. It is the extra oil that causes those flare-ups. Just lightly brush your meat, fish or veggies with a smooth olive oil and place on your hot grill.
- Season it: Seasoning is super important when grilling. You know you are going to get a nice smoked flavor from the grill but don’t forget the salt, pepper or maybe you are looking for something extra special. The spice blends from La BoÎte are perfect for the grill, especially Pierre Poivre N.7.
- Timing: You want your food to cook evenly, so if you cook your steak for five minutes on the first side, make sure you cook it for five more minutes once you flip it. My grandfather used a timer when cooking steaks. He would give them an extra turn on each side to get the nice square grill marks. The meat was cooked perfectly every time.
- Let it rest: I am sure your mouth will already be watering while you are grilling but it is really important to let the meat rest for 5-10 minutes once it comes off the grill. This allows the juices to settle and stay inside the meat, making it even more delicious.
- Enjoy!
Enjoy the first weekend of August. There are still 5 more great weeks of summer ahead of us. Fire up those grills and if there is a pool nearby, even better!
Happy Friday,
Julie